Pongo's Desition (Rewrite)
by Evil-Copper
Summary: Pongo has a problem. After he saves a baby from a house on fire, his pas is revealed. Now he needs to choose between his old family tradition or his new family.
1. The show

**(Authors note:** **Please not that this is a REWRITE. The original is written by Janus Oberoth. Please leave reviews.)**

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 _"Peace is disturbed war."_

 _Evil-Copper_

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It's a fairly warm day on the Dalmatian farm and Perdita strolls into the barn in search of her pups. She had decided to spend as much time as she can with her puppies while her mate, Pongo, is away with Roger in London.

As Perdita opens the barn door, she sees that several puppies are playing inside. They are playing the usual tug of war, chase and other games of interest for their age. As Perdita enters the puppy filled barn and goes to the bottom floor, she sees that Lucky, Rolly, Cadpig and most of their brothers and sisters had crowded around the television.

"Hello, my darlings", Perdita says approaching her pups, causing them to turn their heads and look at her. "Hi Mom" they all reply, while turning their attention back to the television. Lucky, Rolly and Cadpig shift up to make space for their mother to lie down.

"What are you watching?" Perdita asks curiously, unfamiliar with the program. "It's a show about famous dogs" Rolly replies, being the first to respond to the question. "Really?" Perdita asks looking at Lucky, he nods as if to agree. "They must be expecting to see Thunderbolt" Perdita thinks. She knew that her puppies admire Thunderbolt.

She decides to watch the show for interest's sakes with her pups, but then the show was put on hold due to a news bulletin. After the logo came an image of a burning house, with a reporter explaining the incident. "I'm here in central London where a house has caught alight, fire-fighters are trying to take control the situation" the reporter says while the camera focuses on the house.

There is woman who is completely hysterical, screaming and fighting her way to try and get in the burning house, but does not succeed. "My baby is inside!" the woman cries as she struggles with the police. The camera focuses on the determined woman who tries by all means to return home. Then, out of nowhere, a Dalmatian ran though the camera frame and the attention is moved onto the dog running towards the blazing house's entrance. He has breached the front door.

"Pongo!" Perdita shouts as she realises the Dalmatian running in the house is her mate. She is not the only one worrying as she realises the puppies' expirations. They instinctively think the worst, fearing that they will lose Pongo in the fire. Perdita notices that Roger is looking at the house with a worried expression on his face. In his hand, Pongo's strap remained.

A moment later, one of the downstairs windows shattered as Pongo breaks through it. He had a light blue coloured blanket on his snout, with the baby wrapped in it. Pongo limps towards the firemen and lady who was glad to see that the baby was in her arms again as she takes the baby in her arms as she wept for joy.

One of the firemen checked the baby while Roger approached Pongo, relieved he is safe, and checks him for injuries. The reporter and cameraman inch closer to the hero, the camera focusing on Pongo's right foreleg; there is a piece of glass embedded in it. They are soon joined by one of the firemen who examined the wound.

The fireman and Roger exchange quick but meaningful looks, Roger holds Pongo for comfit while the fire-fighter slowly removes the glass piece from Pongo's injured leg. A moan of pain escapes his mouth. After a lengthy extraction process, the glass is removed and the foreleg bandaged. "I do not think it's something serious, but take him to the veterinarian" the fireman says looking at Roger. The reporter interviews Roger about Pongo's actions.

A few moments later, the fire-fighters took over and managed to get the fire put out. They celebrated like everybody else and Pongo was given a fire fighting helmet placed on his head. Back at the farm, the news ended and the previously playing program continued to play. "Did you see that? Dad is a hero!" Lucky says trying to get attention from his siblings. "Dad was very brave" Penny continues with the sentence. They were all very excited; talking about what they had just seen.

Perdita doesn't pay attention to her pups' conversations. She has a mixture of emotions running through her mind: anger, joy, pride and concern. It was overwhelming and yet unusually strange because she knew because that Pongo was safe.

Quite a while later, the pups and Perdita hear a car closing in on the farm. They all got up and anxiously ran to the car stopping in front of the house. Roger gets out of the car and opens the passenger door to let Pongo out to his awaiting mate and pups. The puppies can't help but notice that Pongo is still wearing the fireman's helmet and his bandaged leg.

"Dad you were great" Patch exclaims as he jumps excitedly around his father. "We saw what you did on the television" Cadpig says noticing the look of surprise on his father's face. "Didn't you have fear?" Rolly asks looking at his father. "How did you find the baby?" Penny asked confused. "Why are you using that helmet when you don't need it?" Two-Tone asks looking at the helmet.

Perdita stares at Pongo, smiling at their pups' bombarding him with every question under the sun and being answered without the slightest hesitation. After the puppies eventually have all the questions answered, Perdita approaches Pongo; she comforts and nuzzles him affectionately with her mate returning the favour.

"I'm sorry if I made you stress. Were you worried?" Pongo asks Perdita. "Yes, but if it wasn't for you, that baby wouldn't have seen another sunrise" Perdita responds. "How is your foreleg? What did the doctor say?" Perdita asks looking at Pongo's bandaged leg, noticing the blood stained bandage. "Yes, the doctor said it's nothing too serious." Pongo answers gladly. Perdita nudges him. "You seem more

handsome with that helmet!" Perdita exclaims smiling at her mate. "One of the fire-fighters forgot it in the midst of the rubble." Pongo says looking to Perdita. The puppies smile and cheerfully laugh. Pongo spends the rest of the day with the puppies and Perdita.


	2. You need to know

**(Authors note:** **Please note that this is a REWRITE. The original is written by Janus Oberoth. Please leave reviews. All characters are copyright of Disney.)**

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 _"Love is not love. Which alters when it alteration finds, or bends with the remover to remove."_

 _William Shakespheare_

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The next day, Pongo and Perdita observe the pups while they play and although Pongo's injured leg stop him from joining in, he still stayed and did what he could. Then all of a sudden, a fire fighting truck pulls up near the farm entrance and sent a cold chill down Pongo's spine. The pups stop their games to find out what was going on. A man, dressed in a suit, gets out of the truck and is instantly recognised by Pongo as the fire-fighter department chief. He smiles at Pongo as if to greet him.

Pongo barks for a while as he gets rubbed and given attention until Roger and Anita leave the house to greet the awaiting chief. The chief is the first to react and greets Roger and Anita. "What brings you to these parts?" Anita asks worryingly. "Don't worry, I am just on my way to repair one of our trucks, we have been having problems with its electrical system." the fire chief responds. "I see, I thought you were passing by to pick up one of your helmets." Roger says looking at the chief, who started laughing. Pongo and Perdita laugh along with the puppies. "That's no problem, we all agreed that you dog can keep it" the chief says with a bit of seriousness in his voice.

"You know, your dog would be a huge help to us at the station." the chief says, surprising Roger and Anita. "Are you asking for Pongo to become a fire-fighter dog?" Anita asks slightly agitated. "Well, sort of. The way in which he went straight towards danger and managed to get the baby out without the slightest hesitation." the chief says looking at Pongo. "Well, that's because he was trained to be a fire fighting dog!" Roger says.

Perdita and puppies look at Pongo; he remains motionless, trying not to look at his family. "Then why does he not work at a station?" The chief asks confused. "Well, that's because there were a few complications" Roger answers without an explanation. "What do you think about my proposition?" the chief asks.

"That's not my decision, Pongo must decide. Don't forget, he has family here, you might think I'm crazy but I think he understands." Roger says looking at Pongo. The chief nods. "It will seem strange to some folks but I understand that some dogs are very special. My friends life was saved thanks to his dog. He detected a disease that without treatment could kill him." the chief says looking at Roger.

"In any case, I'll be back in a week to know the decision of your dog." the chief says looking at Roger. The chief then says goodbye and goes back to the truck, Roger and Anita wait for the truck to vanish in the distance. Pongo gets up and leaves, not paying any attention to his mate and pups. Pongo spends the rest of the day alone, although Perdita tries to talk to him.

That night, Pongo lies on the top floor of the barn, looking at the sky. Perdita is in the bottom, trying to put the puppies to sleep. "Mom, did you know that dad had been trained like a fire fighting dog?" Lucky asks. "No, he never told me." Perdita responds feeling pain inside, she felt that somehow Pongo had lied to her.

A few minutes later, Perdita climbs up the stairs. She thinks the puppies are asleep, but there weren't. Ones their mother disappears out of their line if sight, they get up and huddle around a pipe installed as a communication system, linking the bottom of the barn and the window where Pongo and Perdita sleep. The puppies had installed the system in case they are making mischief, a puppy would alert them from the window. Now they can hear the conversation.

Perdita approaches to Pongo and sits beside him; she notices him staring at the sky. She licks Pongo's cheek, he startles but realised that he was ignoring everybody that loved him. "How is your leg?" Perdita asks.

"It's a little better" he answers, trying to cheer his mate up." Are the puppies asleep and in bed?" Pongo asks looking at Perdita, she nods. Pongo looks at his mate; then back to the sky.

"Pongo..." Perdita says looking at Pongo as if to say that he lied to her.

"Sorry about this afternoon, but needed some time alone to think," he responds.

"I understand that ... but why did you never tell me about your training as a fire fighting dog?" Perdita asks.

"I guess… I guess I wanted to forget that time period in my life. It's the worst memory I have." Pongo responds with a sigh, struggling to hide his emotions. He then instantly captures the look of curiosity on his mate's face. "Do you want to know?" Pongo asks Perdita.

"Oh no of course not" Perdita says immediately trying to stop him from revealing his past, even though she would like to hear.

"Well, I'll tell you. I can't keep it inside for my whole life. In my family, being a fire-fighter dog was a tradition. My father, my mother, and their parents ... well you know the rest." Pongo says looking at his mate, she nods. "My brothers and I were brought up in a fire station where our father worked. Our mother stayed with us until we were able to fend for ourselves. She would then leave for her shift at the station." Pongo sighs sadly while trying to not get overwhelmed by the memories of the days when he was a puppy.


	3. Story

**(Authors note:** **Please note that this is a REWRITE. The original is written by Janus Oberoth. Please leave reviews. All characters are copyright of Disney.)**

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 _"A limb has fallen from the family tree that says, 'Grieve not for me, remember the best times, the laughter, the song, the good life I lived while I was strong."_

 _Author unknown_

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"My father loved us dearly, but his work, unfortunately, was his main priority" Pongo says looking at Perdita; she gets surprised by how deep it affected him. "We understood it, but sometimes there were arguments for about this. Our mother wanted him to spend more time with us… but it was no use. When we were at the right age, we started our training. My brothers did exceptionally well with the tasks, but I ..." Pongo says watching to the starry sky. "Although I gave it everything I could, I still

couldn't accomplish much. Mom tried to help me and support me in my training, but I failed to meet the standards set by my brothers. They were moved to different stations" Pongo says looking at Perdita. "I did not know what would become of me; I was a failure"

"One day, a fire had started in the station where me and my parent stayed" Perdita gasped as she hears this from Pongo. "We were locked in a room with no windows except on the door. All three of us worked together to break the door down. The hallway was all in smoke and the emergency exit was cut off by a bookshelf on fire. Our only option was to make our way to the main entrance. We all headed straight for the glass pane and jumped through, one at a time." Pongo says, causing his mate

to stress. "We got out alive… all but one. My mother had a piece of glass lodged in her from breaking to window" Pongo say with tears forming in his eyes.

"My father and I wear heartbroken, but we had to keep on going. A week or two later just before we… I found a home, my father died protecting me from animal abusers. I had nothing left. I thought my life was over" Pongo says. He could no longer hold the tears back and started crying softly, trying not to wake the puppies, unaware that they can hear everything. His mate didn't know what to do as she is inexperienced at soothing painful memories or emotional trauma. Downstairs, there is disbelief as Lucky cannot believe that is father cries and although he and his brothers have not had this experience, they all feel sorry for their father.

Perdita is horrified to here this as it was not what she expected. Pongo continues, "As I lay there, besides my father's body, I finally realized what he was training me for, to stop others from going through what I had gone through. Finally, I had motivation to do better, but it was now too late. My pet, Roger, found me later that day. My father always told me that I was going to be a better dog when he was gone, and now I believe him. Perdita, if I didn't trick my pet into taking me to the park,

I wouldn't have you here to listen and talk to. Now I have a reason to live."

"I doubt that you were a shame to your family, I don't think they had any idea that you would be able to care and protect to me and so many puppies" Perdita says looking at Pongo in attempt to lighten his mood. "When I met you and we became mates, I always knew you were a brave and noble dog, the way you saved the baby from the burning building, you're all that a female could ask for" Perdita says looking at her mate.

"The puppies found you as their hero, it is something clearly demonstrated. Me, them, all of us are lucky to have you as a father and loyal mate who cares for us" Perdita says, looking to inspire Pongo and full him with joy. Pongo and Perdita look to each other, he kisses her gently. They are united in a kiss that lasts for some time.

"Sorry to rush you but have you decided?" Perdita asks after she breaks the kiss. "No" Pongo answers sighing. "Now that you know the truth, I can tell you that part of me wishes to stay on the farm, but the other part wants to be a fire-fighter dog" he says looking at Perdita. "Did you do it in your father's memory?" Perdita asks. "No" replies her mate, "I did it in your name, Perdi. You have taught me that family is the most important thing in the world and that the woman shouldn't have gone though something like that."

Perdita was now on the edge of busting into tears. Meanwhile, downstairs, a few of the pups had started sobbing. Even though they had never been in their parents shoes, they still felt every word tear a new hole in their young souls. Lucky had been hit the hardest, and like some of his siblings, he had started crying. His limits had been reached and he could take no more and instead of staying for the end, he decided to leave the barn to get some fresh air.

Back on the top floor of the barn, Perdita had started to let her emotions take over as she began to sob. She always knew Pongo loved her more then anything else, but now that he had told her this, she could not hold back the tears. "Perdi, love, are you alright?" asked the concerned Dalmatian, "Please Perdi, answer me". She looked up at Pongo and never said a word. She didn't need to as her face said it all. After gassing at one another for some time, Perdita broke the stillness of the night with a single sentence, "If you love me so much, then I will not get in your way of becoming the person you always wanted to be". Pongo had only one thing to say," I love you too". Soon after they fell asleep with many thoughts racing through their heads.


	4. Epologe

**(Authors note:** **Please note that this is a REWRITE. The original is written by Janus Oberoth. Please leave reviews. All characters are copyright of Disney.)**

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 _"Let me not to the marriage of two minds/ Admit impediments."_

 _William_ _Shakespeare_

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The stillness of the morning was broken by the sound of an arriving truck. Pongo was the first to wake up and realize that the fire truck had stopped in the driveway. Rushing to get ready, Pongo woke all the pups and left. The pups then woke their mother up. She did not even have to open her eyes to understand what all the chaos was about and within seconds she was up and looking for her mate only to find him placed between Roger and the fire fighting chief. Pongo had never liked the spotlight on him but now he had no choice. He turned his head to Roger and then to the chief. Instead of walking to either he turned and walked over to Perdita.

She was the most confused out of the entire farm. "Pongo, what are you doing? You just through away the only chance you would have ever had to fill your dream." Pongo looked at her and smiled, saying," If their is one thing I've learned, it is to spend as much time I can with the ones I love".

The End


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